Faulkner’s father, Murray worked a s a treasure for the family owned family-owned Gulf & Chicago Railroad Company. He hoped to inherit it from his father, but he didn’t have much faith in Murray’s business ability so he sold it for $75,000. That would probably be worth around $8 million today.
Faulkner’s mother valued education and taught him to read and read the classics to him before even sending him to school.
William was able to attend university because his father had a job there, however he skipped class often and even earned a “D” in English.
Faulkner had a job at a power company and worked on his writing in the evenings. He was in need of money and so he accepted a job offer as a screenwriter in Hollywood, where he would work from the 1930’s to 1950’s.
After that he worked as a writer in residence for the university of Virginia and then won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1949.
Throughout his life Faulkner did a lot of writing but 9 of his most acclaimed books are as follows:
Sanctuary (1931)
Soldiers’ Pay (1926)
A Rose for Emily (1930)
The Sound and the Fury (1929)
Light in August (1932)